Royal revival in Italy as prince wins Strictly

More than 60 years after Italy voted to scrap its royal family, the youngest heir to the defunct throne has been crowned king for a day after dancing the cha-cha-cha on Italy's version of Strictly Come Dancing.

Emanuele Filiberto, the grandson of the last king of Italy, partnered Russian dancer Natalia Titova to win the final on Saturday night with 75% of the phone-in vote.

The 36-year-old said he entered the contest "with the aim of letting Italians get to know me", and has hinted he may stand in European elections.

The victory is a turnaround for the House of Savoy, which has suffered a series of mishaps since male members returned from exile in 2002. Filiberto's father, Prince Vittorio Emanuele, was briefly jailed on suspicion of involvement in a vice ring in 2006. A political movement set up by Filiberto suffered a false start when it was revealed the Sicilian vice-president he appointed was suspected of having ties to the mafia. And in 2007, the family demanded €260m (£244m) as damages for being exiled in 1946 and for property confiscated, hastily withdrawing the request after an avalanche of criticism.

Waving his enormous trophy on Saturday, Filiberto gave a speech worthy of the Oscars, saying: "The victory is above all for the Italians who discovered me."